1. Field of Art
The present invention relates generally to web-based video viewing and specifically to collaborative viewing of video in an online video content distribution system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The expansion of networked video viewing provides users with rich opportunities to upload, watch and share videos in fast-growing online video entertainment communities. On average, many thousands of videos are posted every day, and this number is increasing as the tools and opportunities for capturing video become easier to use and more widespread. Video viewing sites such as YOUTUBE allow content suppliers to upload video easily, automatically converting from many different formats, and to tag uploaded videos with keywords. Users can easily share videos by mailing links to others, or embedding them on web pages or in blogs. Users can also rate and comment on videos, bringing new social aspects to video viewing. Consequently, videos are no longer independent from each other, and neither are users in an online video sharing environment.
Videos are typically viewed at a video hosting website such as YOUTUBE. Users browsing the video hosting website can find videos of interest by, for example, searching for videos, browsing video directories, or sorting videos by ratings assigned to the videos. Some video hosting sites allow users to create a video viewing channel associated with a personal account on the hosting website to upload videos, create video playlists, look at comments posted by other viewers, and other video viewing activities. Conventionally, an individual video viewing channel is preserved for the associated account holder with limited social interactions with other users. However, a conventional video viewing channel is not well suited for interactive video viewing and sharing.